Ukraine (Ukrainian: Україна, Ukrayina, /ukraˈjina/) is a country in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north-east, Belarus to the north, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the south-west and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The historic city of Kiev (Kyiv) is the country's capital.
From at least the ninth century the territory of present-day Ukraine was a centre of medieval East Slavic civilization forming the state of Kievan Rus, and for the following several centuries the territory was divided between a number of regional powers. After a brief period of independence (1917–1921) following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Ukraine became one of the founding Soviet Republics in 1922. The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic's territory was enlarged westward after the Second World War, and again in 1954 with the Crimea transfer. Ukraine became independent again after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.